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consolidating 2 surveys with rotation & translation how much accuracy do you lose on the Topo?

Joined
Jun 17, 2025
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I'm in the process of merging two different surveys into a single drawing. To do this, I need to rotate and translate one of the surveys to align it with the other. I'm aware that this might lead to some positional inaccuracies, but I'm really interested in understanding just how much it affects the accuracy of the existing topographic data.

Has anyone experienced this issue firsthand? Is the topographic information still dependable for general site planning, or would you suggest doing a complete reshoot after the merge? I'd love to hear any practical insights or tips on how to handle this.
 
What's the actual margin of error when you rotate and shift survey data like that? I get it's not perfect, but is it still reliable enough for rough planning purposes?
 
Yeah, rotating and translating can introduce slight errors, especially in elevation data. For general site planning, it's usually fine but for precision work, a reshoot's the safer bet.
 
If you're merging two surveys and relying on that data for serious planning, you're already rolling the dice no matter how carefully you align them, sometimes a clean reshoot saves way more trouble down the line.
 
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